Will Batman Die in Dark Knight Rises?

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New teaser trailer hints at Bruce Wayne's fate.

By Phil Pirrello

It's three years to the day since The Dark Knight hit theatres and changed the way comic book movies are made. While that isn't a milestone to celebrate per se, it is important to note that the teaser trailer for The Dark Knight Rises hit today as well.

To mark the occasion, IGN is kicking off this new Batman-centric column, which looks at all the questions and speculation out there that occurs whenever any piece of news about the film breaks. First up: Will Chris Nolan kill Batman in Dark Knight Rises?

Now hold on just a minute, don't get your utility belts in a bunch. We're not just pulling this out of our asses here, or trying to sensationalize things. The trailer hints to it. In fact, the first clue to Batman's potential demise came in 2005, with Batman Begins.

"If you make yourself more than just a man, if you devote yourself to an ideal and if they can't stop you, you become something else entirely... a legend, Mister Wayne." Ra's Al Ghul's speech in Batman Begins did more than inspire Bruce to take action. It set the man on a path to become someone who uses fear to prey on those who use fear themselves. To become what Bruce himself fears the most. In doing so, it's cost him his reputation, Rachel Dawes, Harvey Dent and most of his soul.

That quote opens the trailer, and is book-ended by the title card: "The Epic Conclusion to The Dark Knight Legend." Legend is a title most are usually afforded posthumously, and Batman's death may just be that "terrible thought" Ra's told Bruce he had to become.

Wayne took on the cowl to be a symbol, something "incorruptible," something "everlasting." It's all but certain that the League of Shadows are returning to Gotham, most likely to finish the tear down they started in Begins. If Gotham is literally falling apart, then it may take more than the city's silent protector wearing a mask and jumping off rooftops to save them. He may have to give his life in the fight to save not only the city and its people, but what's left of his soul.

The Joker took Batman right to the edge of his limits. The League, with Bane as their enforcer, will put even more pressure on those limits. Batman may be above killing, but he's not below self-sacrifice. He took the fall for Harvey's murders. What if to become the hero Gotham both needs and deserves, he'll have to sacrifice himself again?

That dawn Harvey spoke of in Dark Knight, the one that's coming to a bleak Gotham? It won't come easy. Escalation is a running theme in Nolan's Batman movies, and it seems to be hitting an all-time high in Rises. Don't be surprised that, when that dawn comes, the first thing it catches is the city mourning the loss of the Batman who gave his life to save it.

What say you, Nolan legion? Agree? Disagree? Have a theory or three of your own? That's your cue to take to the Comments! Oh and while you're at it, tell us what plot aspects you'd like to see us tackle in future installments.